Baliston by STARCK Review: Quantify and Analyze Your Steps, Gait, and More with a $249.99 Eco-Friendly Shoe Subscription

It’s kind of a minor miracle of physics and evolution that we can walk as efficiently as we do; our feet coordinate with our knees, hips, back, and shoulders to keep us upright and moving, but that doesn’t mean we can’t improve along the way. Baliston by STARCK is all about figuring out how to quantify and improve your stride while also improving your style! How do they do? Let’s find out!

There are really two separate things to evaluate about the Baliston by STARCK. One is the shoes themselves, and the other is the tracking and analysis the foot pods provide.

Let’s start with the shoes first.

Baliston by STARCK shoes don’t look like connected footwear; they look like stylish sneakers that you could easily pair with a nice shirt for a casual office day or with a pair of shorts for a day of running errands.

The pair I was sent are the Full Black, which are black with black soles, and they really only have a visible seam on either side of the heel, with the rest of the shoe fairly streamlined. The bottom has a BA and STARCK logo on it, as well as a small BA on the heel, but the shoe is otherwise unadorned.

Personally, I like when a shoe doesn’t get too in your face with the brand advertising, so I like the subtlety of the logos here. The textured sole and the knitted look to the upper are also quite aesthetically pleasing.

If the STARCK name looks familiar, it’s because, yes, these shoes were designed by Philippe STARCK, who has designed all sorts of things from buildings to furniture with a distinct vision and flair.

You can tell that thought was given to the shoes, from the build quality to the silhouette, and they do look damn nice in every color combination that Baliston offers. The color combinations include Black-White, Black/Orange-Black, Full Black, Full White, and White/Yellow-White.

While the outside of this pair is black, there’s a pop of orange on the inner heel. You can’t see it when you’re wearing the shoe, but it does look nice and adds a bit of aesthetic color to the design.

The upper is all one piece, so there’s no separate tongue. You can tighten the laces a bit, but these are more of a cross between a slip-on and a fully tied shoe, so you don’t get the complete lockdown security of tying your shoes, but you also get the convenience of just slipping them onto your feet.

The sensors tuck into a little well under the insole, so you really won’t notice them as you’re walking.

Baliston says the sensors should be good for up to two weeks of battery life, and that seemed about accurate from my testing.

They fit snugly, but there’s a ribbon that runs underneath them for easy popping up for removal, and they magnetically attach to a small USB-C cradle for charging. It’s fairly easy to swap them out as needed for charging, so you’ll have them ready by the time you wear your shoes again.

Baliston’s tracking is super interesting if you’re a numbers geek about your stride.

You can track your steps, activity, and even stairs on the app, and then you get emailed an analytical report that is very cool. The report breaks down how you pronate your feet, how big your stride is, how long each part of your step is taking, and the angles, as well as helpful tips to alter or improve your gait.

I learned that I’m slightly asymmetrical while I walk, and when wearing the Baliston by STARCKs, I hit the ground a little too hard on my heels. I wasn’t surprised to learn that, and from the reports, it looks as though I mildly favor my left leg.

I’ve had two surgeries on that knee, so it’s not surprising if I walk a little off as a result. Still, I found it really interesting how the report carefully broke down where I was within a reasonable average and where I might want to make changes.

It also breaks down how those changes might improve blood flow, stride speed, and other tips, which was quite interesting.

I found the report to be far more interesting than the daily steps from the app since this gave me something really interesting and different, as well as actionable ideas that went beyond “get up and move more.” I really got into the idea of how to have a more efficient stride.

Super cool insights, right? Now here’s where it gets interesting.

Baliston by STARCK offers the shoes for $249.99 on a subscription basis, meaning you pay that for a year of access to their app and devices. It also covers your shoes for that time, and they say they’ll replace the shoes when they wear out!

According to Baliston, that could be as early as every six months if you average 7,500 steps per day in the shoes. The app and the shoes will keep track of this and notify you when it’s time to recycle them, and the company makes the shoes with only five materials to make recycling easier.

Baliston will also provide custom-fitted insoles once the app has a handle on your stride and gait, and this is all part of the $249.99 per year. You can change the shoe’s color-way when you send them in for recycling to get a new pair, and you can also add an additional pair of shoes for $199.

The Baliston by STARCK subscription is not cheap, but you do get a lot of great insights, they recycle your worn-out shoes for you, and you’ll be replacing shoes as they reach their end of life, which will further maintain good walking stride and health.

We’ll get into the personal issue I ran into in a moment, but there is one flaw in this plan; the fact that the Balistons want to be an all-around shoe does limit them a little bit. Even if I could walk several miles in them, I wouldn’t see these as athletic shoes — they don’t fit snugly enough, and they’re just too … fashion first.

Which is totally fine for a regular shoe. It’s even fine for a connected shoe if Baliston by STARCK plans to expand its lineup.

I could easily envision a lineup where you can get shoes in multiple styles that all feature the little tracker well. It takes seconds to pop them out, so it wouldn’t be a problem to hot-swap them into other shoes.

I loved the insights the shoes gave me, and I really wish I had some way to get them everywhere I went, but one pair of shoes doesn’t cover everything I need in life, and if I’m going to pay $199 for another pair, it would be nice if the new pair fit a different niche.

If they offered a few different styles along with the tracking, and it was $449 for, say, two pairs of shoes and the tracking, that would be a lot, but it’s a justifiable expense, especially if one of the shoes is an all-around trainer or a solid hiking shoe.

It just feels like a big ask for one style of shoe, and more diversity in the Baliston by STARCK lineup would make the whole thing much more attractive.

Here’s a personal issue I ran into with the Balistons. As I said, the report noted I’m a little asymmetrical in how I walk. I noticed if I wore the Balistons to the office or just out running errands, it was fine, but taking them out on a long walk of 2-3 miles caused me some pretty serious hip pain.

It’s not that the Baliston by STARCK caused the hip pain per se; I’ve been fighting this nagging hip issue for a while, but they did exacerbate it quite badly.

It was fine if I was in and out of the car or walking back and forth around the office from my desk, but repeated times on my feet in them just made the issue worse. I strongly suspect it’s an issue with my gait not playing well with the shoes as a mid-to-long distance walking shoe.

It comes back to my thought that they should offer multiple styles; I’d be a lot more full-throated in my support of their ecosystem if there were multiple options.

I think the idea behind the Baliston by STARCK is a really good one. It’s a great-looking shoe, and the tracker really does give you some impressive depth of information on your body and how you walk. I just wish there was more diversity in the lineup, as one style of shoe isn’t going to cover everyone’s needs for every situation, so you’re losing out on collecting all that valuable data every time the shoe isn’t right for the job.

I do love the concept, and I hope this is only the beginning for them because the idea of a quantified subscription shoe service is a good one!

The Baliston by STARCK is sold on a yearly subscription model for $249.99; they are available directly from the manufacturer.

Source: Manufacturer provided review sample

What I Liked: Shoes are extremely well made; Stylish look can be dressed up or down; Easy to install and charge the foot trackers; Lots of details about your gait and stride provided in the daily reports; Eco-friendly subscription concept that recycles the shoes as they wear down

What Needs Improvement: Pricey subscription plan; Shoe may not work for everyone’s needs; One style of shoe is a hard sell for all-day tracking, especially when the style isn’t really suited for running or other strenuous activities